1. Field of the Invention
Aspects of the present invention relate in general to the field of wireless communications.
2. Background
One common way of attaching peripherals to a computer is via a Universal Serial Bus (USB) interface. One of the most convenient features of USB is the ability to add and remove devices from the bus during normal operation (“hot-plugging”). To achieve this “hot-plugging” feature, the host periodically polls each attached USB hub device to determine the state of each of the hub's active downstream ports. If the hub detects that a device is attached to a port, it enables the port and then enumerates the device. If the hub detects that a previously attached device is detached, the port is disabled. In a wired environment, the hub determines the attachment and detachment of devices by monitoring the differential data lines within the USB cable to detect changes in voltage levels. The hub then sets bits in its status register indicating any changes to its ports. The host subsequently reads the status register on the next poll period. The process of detecting device attachment and detachment by monitoring differential data lines is clearly not feasible in a wireless environment.
Due to the ease of installation and use by consumers, USB interfaces have grown in popularity and are included on many computer peripherals. Despite its benefits, USB suffers from the multitude of cables required to attach peripherals.